Aster Kickin'® Series

Sometimes an improvement of a native plant comes across the ocean from world renowned plant breeders.  Kientzler has been a part of the European horticultural industry for 100 years and has the know-how when it comes to choosing new varieties for an ever changing market.  Their development of the Kickin' Series is another accomplishment that brings forth landscape friendly New England asters to gardens across the globe.

Aster Kickin'® Purple

My first encounter with the New England aster would be driving as a young man into Pennsylvania to work at my sister's horse farm.  The sides of the road would have neat blue or purple blooms scattered throughout grasses and other flora.  Their height and size made them spectacular alongside corn fields and elevated ditch banks.  Though, looking back I would have never considered them a landscape plant.  

Aster Kickin'® Carmine Red

Our first commercial offering of the New England aster was the variety 'September Ruby' and after a few years we decided there were better options for the landscape.  'September Ruby' would easily get four feet tall and was more columnar than bushy.  Due to this habit it was only great for the back of mixed borders or meadows.  Their tall stature and heavy bloom was suspect to heavy rain damage that would leave the plants leaning.  While, the radiant ruby blooms were nice better options would present themselves.

Aster Kickin'® Sapphire

Market favorites like 'Purple Dome' and 'Grape Crush' brought more improvements to a market looking for these large blooms.  These two are still favorites of mine and are great sellers.  The powdery mildew is always an issue with the New England aster and these two varieties did better than most but still would be subject to foliar drop when the conditions presented themselves.  They will still have a place in our landscape as we move forward with this new series.  

Aster Kickin'® Lavender

The Aster 'Kickin'® series so far has impressed us with bloom quality, foliage quality, and overall performance.  The foliage has remained clean and while we could see some mildew being an issue the blooms do fully cover the plant in a way that would hide leaf drop better.  The leaves are not as hairy as older types of New England aster so I would think mildew would have a harder time of getting established on the surface.  Overall their genetics are nicer and we are excited to explore different uses in the landscape while also trialing them as an alternative to fall mums.  

Aster Kickin'® Lilac Blue

Happy Gardening,

David Burton